


The Garden

by MaggieMaybe160



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Art, Bees, Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, First Kiss, Flowers, Fluff, Fluff and Mush, Fluffy Ending, Getting Together, Inspired by Art, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, No Angst, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Available, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes, Profound Bond, Romantic Fluff, secret garden
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 07:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17504447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaggieMaybe160/pseuds/MaggieMaybe160
Summary: Cas has a secret garden behind the bunker. Dean follows and the best kind of fluff ensues.





	The Garden

**Author's Note:**

> Made for the Profound Bond Server Birthday! Come join us on the Profound Server if you are 18+ [Here](https://discord.gg/encQqnk)  
> based on a drawing by [purenoodlles](https://purenoodlles.tumblr.com) on tumblr.  
> PodFic available at this [LINK](https://www.dropbox.com/s/snjc7e9kzziaxgp/The%20Garden%20by%20MaggieMaybe160.mp3?dl=0)

The morning was still young. The sun was waking up, slowly bathing the world in it’s pale morning light. The air was still crisp, dew on every flower petal, blade of grass, and leaf. There was no wind and not a cloud in the sky. 

Castiel walked slowly and lightly, his polished black shoes adopting beads of dew from the grass he tread on. The bunker still rested behind him with the snores of two Winchesters. He trailed his fingers delicately along the tall flowers he walked by, his fingertips becoming wet. 

He stepped into his garden. The garden wasn’t a secret per say. It was just a small garden of flowers that only Cas seemed to know about. It brought him joy as he cared for it, breathing life into his small plot of land every morning that he could. He had nurtured everything in his garden from the seeds he had collected from forest floors or spilled outside of stores, forgotten by the careless toddler who had ripped open the bag. 

Castiel wasn’t alone. Every morning, Dean Winchester would hear the door to the bunker shut and he would wake. He would wash and dress quietly, allowing some time and space between him and the angel. He would leave the bunker and blink at the bright sunlight before quietly following Cas. 

Dean took slow, light steps. He didn’t want to be seen or heard. He didn’t want to be discovered. He arrived at the edge of his angel’s secret garden and couldn’t help but smile. He looked on his angel with adoration as he watched. 

Cas had a small relaxed smile as he turned slowly, watching the pattern of a single bee as it fluttered from flower to flower. Cas was watching the beautiful nature of pollination and giving. Dean watched the perfection of an angel with a loose blue tie to match his tired eyes, come to life in this safe haven where monsters didn’t exist. 

Cas had been building the garden for years. Dean had been following him to the garden every morning that they were at the bunker for years minus a week. 

“You stayed longer today,” Cas said quietly. Dean’s freckled cheeks filled with a shameful blush. He stayed where he was, pressed against a tree. He forced his eyes to close as he swallowed hard. 

“Dean,” Cas said after a moment. Dean stepped away from the tree but still didn’t enter the garden. He had never stood in his angel’s safe haven with him. “I never thanked you for taking care of it while I was... away.” 

Dean remembered when Cas had been human. He hadn’t had the luxury of following his perfect angel out here every morning. He’d done it alone, watering every plant, helping each flower flourish. 

“No thanks needed, Cas,” Dean said in a rough voice. He cleared his throat and swept a hand through his hair. He began to walk away. 

“You can come in,” Cas said. The deep voice stopped Dean’s feet from taking him back to the bunker. It was like he was tethered to the angel, at the mercy of the voice that narrated his dreams and whispered his name. He turned around, his eyes finding Castiel’s. 

Dean took careful steps toward the garden but stopped at the entrance as if still asking for permission. Cas looked away from Dean but it felt more like tearing, severing the intense and profound bond between them. His eyes found the small bee again. 

His lips were still together as he smiled, watching the bee. The sun had lifted itself up just enough to wash the garden in a spectacular soft pink, whispering a promise of a warm day. 

Dean wanted to run his hand down the side of Cas’ face and feel the stubble on his jaw. He wanted to let his thumb trace over the small smile, feeling the chapped lips against his skin. His hands yearned to fix the tie, flatten the few wrinkles in the white shirt. He remained still, his outward appearance not betraying his desires as he watched his angel watch a bee. 

“Why do you follow me if you’re never going to come in?” Cas asked quietly. Dean finally took a step into the garden. He was standing close to Cas and involuntarily took in a sharp breath, a side effect of his stomach filling with butterflies that probably belonged in the garden and his heart jolting to life at the same time. 

Cas sighed and looked back at Dean. His eyes were sparkling with the sun. A small breeze made his messy hair move just a little. Dean smiled. 

The garden was special in that it was safe from the dangerous world that surrounded it. Anxieties seemed to melt away. Anger and sadness dissipated. The bees buzzed and the butterflies after them fluttered by, unperturbed. The flowers bloomed and reproduced, thriving under the gentle care that Cas provided. 

Cas closed his eyes and lifted his face toward the rising sun, basking in the promise of a new day and fresh start. Dean watched for a moment, savoring the movements Cas was making: his jaw relaxing, his Adam’s apple bobbing once as he swallowed, his hair moving, tilting with his head, his lips parting gently...

He was saying Dean’s name again. 

“You can water the flowers,” Cas said, his face still tilted to the sky. Dean nodded even though the angel couldn’t see him. He grabbed the watering can from the ground and started to walk slowly, drizzling collected rainwater from the can to the flowers and soil. He watched the water drip from the flower petals down their stems, soaking into the soil at the base. 

Dean kept his gaze averted from his angel, focusing solely on watering the flowers with the same care that Cas would. He could feel Cas watching him now, the blue eyes wandering from the back of his head down his neck, shoulders, and arm to his hand on the watering can. 

“Bees have two stomachs,” Cas said, his deep voice breaking the silence. “One stores nectar from the flowers that they visit so they can carry it back to their hive.” Dean nodded. If anyone else had been around he may have told Cas to quit it with the fun facts and trivia. With no one else around, he only smiled, hoping his angel would keep talking forever. He could listen to him read a phone book. 

“Bees have been around for 30 million years,” Cas said, answering Dean’s silent prayer for his angel to keep talking. Dean couldn’t see it but Cas was watching the bees fly from flower to flower as he spoke, trying to keep from staring at Dean. 

Dean was done watering the secret garden. He placed the can back in its spot and looked back to Cas, unable to help himself. Cas immediately turned to lock eyes with Dean, the bees still buzzing about, ignoring the two men. Dean could get lost in those eyes if he let himself. 

“Cas.” The word was spoken so softly the breeze could have taken it away. They stood close enough that their arms brushed. Dean remembered every time he had told Cas about personal space and was glad that the lessons hadn’t stuck. 

Cas’ fingers twitched, moving to test if it was okay to reach out and graze the skin of Dean’s palm. Dean didn’t pull away or flinch. Cas twined their fingers together silently. Dean looked down at their hands as his angel’s eyes remained steady on his face. 

“Dean,” Cas finally answered. Dean only smiled. His hand tightened on his angel’s. The protection of their secret garden promised him that the angel wouldn’t pull away or disappear. They were safe and unseen. 

Cas pulled Dean down gently. Dean sat in the dirt next to him before lying down. They were shoulder to shoulder. Cas had his free arm up, tucked under his head. Dean did the same. 

The sky was turning from the morning pink to a pale blue. The brisk air of the morning was starting to warm and the dew was starting to be soaked up by the plants it rested on. Dean could feel the back of his shirt soaking up the moisture from the ground, but he didn’t dare move. 

Cas lifted their locked hands and pointed a finger up, tracing the flight path of one of the bees. Dean’s arm moved according to Castiel’s smooth movements. Dean watched their hands, trying to see everything that his angel could. 

Cas let their arms fall back down. Dean turned his head and looked at Cas. Dean whispered his angel’s name in his mind as his eyes caressed his features, drinking him in. His profile was perfect. His intense blue eyes reflected the lighter blue of the sky that his slightly curved nose was pointing to. His lips, pink and soft, were gently pressed together. His cheekbones appeared sharper in the lighting, yet his face appeared softer. His complete ease was apparent and Dean felt it too. 

The perfect backdrop to Castiel was this garden with the colorful flowers and tall green blades of grass. 

Cas finally turned his head to face his hunter. His green eyes were bright with life that no one else had ever seen in his eyes. They were open and unguarded for Cas in their garden. It was Dean’s gift to him that morning. His freckles stood out, dancing across his nose and cheeks. 

Neither spoke, afraid to ruin the moment. They let each other stare and soak up what they could as they were there, side by side, in their secret garden. Dean ran his thumb over his angel’s, the gentle touch communicating what he didn’t think he could with words. 

“Dean,” was all Cas said. It was all he needed to say. That one word held more meaning to the angel than any other word across all languages. 

Dean rolled onto his side and with his hand that wasn’t tangled up with Cas’, he ran his hand gently down the side of his angel’s face. His thumb grazed the dark stubble gently before moving to his lips. Castiel’s lips parted as Dean touched them. 

Dean swallowed hard, his hand falling from Cas’ mouth to his chest and resting there, feeling the hard thrumming of his angel’s heart. Cas pulled his arm out from under his head and slid his hand down his hunter’s face, slowly pulling Dean toward him. 

Their lips connected and their eyes closed. Dean felt Cas’ heart rate accelerate at the same time as his. Their lips seemed to fit together perfectly as they kissed. Dean couldn’t stop himself from saying his angel’s name in his head again. 

“Dean,” Cas answered softly against his hunter’s lips. Dean couldn’t help but smile, breaking the kiss. Cas kissed the tip of his nose and then his forehead before pulling away enough to see the blush under Dean’s freckles. 

With their intertwined hands, Dean placed both of their hands on his burning cheek. He pressed his cheek into Cas’ palm and closed his eyes. He could hear the birds waking up, chirping and fluttering about in the trees. The bees continued to buzz from flower to flower. His heart continued to beat. 

Cas leaned his forehead against his hunter’s, Dean opening his eyes in response. Their eyes met and Cas smiled again. Their faces were touching from their foreheads to the tips of their noses. 

“I love you,” Dean whispered. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud. It was meant to stay in his head forever but here, in their secret garden, he was safe. 

“I’m in love with you,” Cas answered. The distinction surprised them both. 

Cas and Dean sat in the center of their secret garden, surrounded by their flowers and bees. Their lips locked, their love secure. There was no going back for either of them as the sun came up, illuminating the day and their hearts. 


End file.
